


Ice & Snow

by CCaptainRex



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drowning, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Reader-Insert, Whumptober 2020, can be read as romantic or platonic, no y/n
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:22:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27217873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CCaptainRex/pseuds/CCaptainRex
Summary: The ice underneath you finally cracks and you scream as you plunge into the water and Mando realizes, with dawning horror, he picked you up on some desert planet.You can't swim.Based off of day 5, 7, and 21 of Whumptober
Relationships: Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s), Din Djarin/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 212





	Ice & Snow

"Choose, Mando. The kid, or the girl." Din really wonders how he gets himself into these situations. The child was in the arms of some unnamed criminal, probably someone he pissed off at some point, and there was a blaster pointed at your head as you stood at the bottom of the ramp to the razor crest, and he watches you mouth sorry. 

He should've known better than to leave you alone again, but lately, he's been getting comfortable with leaving you and the child while he does business. You were basically just a live-in nanny for him, someone to take care of the child while he did the dirty work. He'd taught you to shoot a blaster, but on your own, he doubts you lasted long. 

The man nudges the gun against your head and you step forward and Din wants to yell out to be careful, stepping out onto the ice of a frozen-over ocean planet, not your safest choice. But it gets the blaster away from you, and that's what matters. "Come on, Mando. Is it really that hard of a decision?" He calls, and Din knows his answer in a heartbeat. 

He'd always save the child, his foundling, but a part of him hurts at the thought of leaving you behind. The man moves the blaster from your head and presses it to the child, and Din takes a step forward threateningly. "I've made my choice." 

"Oh?" The man laughs and raises the blaster to your head, obviously making the same assumption. Your eyes close and he's surprised to find it peaceful. No tears, no pleading, nothing. Din's hand slides over his blaster, and the man tutters. "No, no, Mando, you know the rules. You fire, I kill-"

The ice underneath you finally cracks and you scream as you plunge into the water and Din uses the distraction to shoot, the man falling uselessly to the ground with the child in his arms. Din scoops up the child and bounces him, trying to calm him, and he turns to wait for you to come back up. 

As the seconds pass, the cold seeps under his skin and he realizes something with dawning horror:

You were raised on a desert planet. 

You couldn't swim. 

Din quickly sets the kid down, rushes back down the ramp and kneels beside the hole you'd created, ice splintering around him. He plunges an arm in, biting back curses at the feeling of the shock cold water against his skin, and he tries to feel for you. Your scream echoes in his ears and he's terrified that's the last thing he'll hear from you, a deafening scream. He pushes his arm in deeper, despite the fact it's so cold it almost burns. Finally, his hand closes around what feels like an arm and he tugs hard. 

He easily pulls you to the surface, and he expects you to cough or sputter, and his fear spikes when you don't move at all. He hauls you out of the water and into the ice, and he presses a hand to your neck to try and find a pulse. "Come on." Nothing. Either it was faint, or non-existant, or maybe with his gloves on he just couldn't feel it. You face is eerily still and your hair sticks to your forehead, and he wipes it away to get a better look at you.

Your chest wasn't rising and falling, and Din starts to panic. Because he can't do CPR, he can't save you, he can't do anything. Except...Except technically he could. He hates when his brain comes up with loopholes for things like this, and technically, you aren't alive. He's not allowed to take his helmet off around any _living_ creature. Which means technically, he could. 

Which would he rather have? Your blood on his hands, or maybe go against his creed? It was a viable loophole. He was saving your life, and for the first time in a very long time, he pulls off his helmet in front of someone else. 

He sets it down gently on the ice, not wanting it to sink through, and prays to any gods that will pity him that you don't see his face. He compresses your chest like he'd seen in the holonet videos, but he knows it's not working. The next step is mouth to mouth, and he hates how long he hesitates. It's not a kiss, it's saving your life. He's never done anything remotely close to either and it scares him more than he'd ever admit. He finally sucks in a breath and in a surge of courage, he presses his mouth against yours. Your chest suddenly convulses below him and he smacks a hand over your eyes as you gasp, and he prays you didn't open your eyes. You choke up water, turning onto your side and clawing at the ice as you expel it all. 

Din panics, his helmet just out of reach, and he needs to keep his hand over your eyes just in case. Your coughing slowly ceases, and your hand grips onto his glove, finally realizing that he's blocking your view. "Don't." 

"W-What?" Din pulls you flush against his chest and leans and grabs his helmet with his free hand. "Mando, did you-" 

"You were dead, you weren't a living being, I was allowed to take the helmet off." He rushes out before pulling the helmet back on quickly, and you being to cough again. A strange part of him wants to keep the helmet off, another screaming at him that he's broken his creed. He finally shakes his head and pats your back, realizing you're still coughing up water. "Shit, I need to-You need to get all the water out." 

"What do y-you think I'm doin-ng?" You mutter in between coughs. His hand rests gently on your back now, trying to be soothing but likely doing the opposite. "Is t-the child al-alright?" 

Din looks up at the ramp and finds the child staring back down at him, a bloodied body a few feet away from him. The child just coos and waves his hands, and Din watches the smallest smile grace your face. "He should be." Then, as quick as the smile appeared, it's gone when your eyes find the man on the ramp.

"Is he...Is he dead?" Your eyes trace over the body, and Din stands to check him over. 

"Yes." There's a fob for the child in his pocket, and Din tosses it into the hole in the ice. "What happened?" He demands, and he definitely says it harsher than he means to. You tremble as you try to stand, and Din watches your knees give out as you collapse back down onto the ice, it cracking around you. Quicker then he thought he could act he sweeps his arms under you to cradle you and he picks you up, holding you close to his chest.

A new threat comes into Din's mind as you violently shiver in his arms - You were just plunged into freezing cold water, and now you were out in the biting wind and snow, and hypothermia will set in quickly. "I w-was, uh, let-tting the child pl-lay in the s-snow." You finally answer as Din works his way up the ship, kicking the body off onto the ice and letting the child waddle beside him. He sets you down against a crate and grabs the child, closing the ramp and setting him into his little cradle. "He c-came out of-of nowhere." 

"We need to get you warm," Din says as he closes the lid to the child cradle. Your skin is an unhealthy pale tone, almost blue, and he starts to panic. What cures hypothermia? What stops it? Can he stop it? Are you dying? "If I cant get you to the refresher, can you take care of the rest?" 

"I s-shoul-ld." Your shivering worsens and you try to stand again and Din has to catch you as you fall. You grip onto his arm and start to cough again, and he knows there's still liquid left in your lungs. He picks you up again and carries you to the refresher, and he's very aware of how cold his armour must be against your skin. 

The refresher of the razor crest is the worst part, Din would say. It's old, it vaguely smells, and the only proper hygiene products are mostly yours, save for his shaving kit and 3-in-1 shampoo whatever. Sometimes, Din would accidentally use your shampoo and he'd smell like you for the rest of the day, and it's made him question whether or not he should use it more often. 

He sets you down on the small space on the floor by the sink and turns tot he small shower stall. He quickly turns on the water, and when he turns back your fumbling with your outer clothing, shucking off your boots and outer coat, and he makes a mental note to pick up new ones. "Would you, um, be okay with sitting? In the shower?" 

"I d-don't care," You say with a small laugh. "Ju-ust want t-to be warm." 

"Okay." The water is finally steaming, and he helps you stand to get over the small edge of the stall, but as soon as your hand reaches out to the water you gasp and recoil your hand, pressing yourself into Din's side. 

"Hurts." You bite out, clutching your hand to your chest. Shit, he should've _known_ it would be too hot. Then, against all better judgement, Din sets you back down on the floor and pulls off his cloak and armour until he's just in his bodysuit, and you stare up at him like he'd grown two heads. "What are you-" 

He turns down the heat and waits for it to cool ever so slightly before picking you up and cradling you to his chest again, and he sits with his back against the stall and his feet towards the water. The water pools around your and you sigh, relaxing into him as the room heats up, and his bare hands hover over you. 

Today has been a lot of firsts. First time doing CPR, first time taking his helmet off around others, and his first time touching you. You finally close the gap between his hands and yours, linking them together and holding them close. Your fingers are basically ice, and he closes his hands around yours. He's not sure what's changed between you since coming back empty-handed from his bounty, and he's not sure if it's for good, or for the worse. 


End file.
